The Founding of New Caledra
Date: Grandmagus lays wreath to Caledra victims, ending period of official mourning and beginning the first steps of the new capital's construction on 32 Petalo 443 BQ
History at a glance:
(*) The destruction of Caledra had been a significant blow to the tribe ruled by the Grandmagus.
(*) It was initially hoped that the dragon would leave of his own volition, but this did not eventuate.
(*) Plans to remove the dragon by guile or force were proposed and abandoned as likely to only further provoke the beast.
(*) Finally, the Grandmagus ordered the construction of an alternative capital, New Caledra, east of where the old city lay burning.
The wake of Adarrdanothos' assault on Caledra left the fledgling nation loyal to the Grandmagus in disarray. Caledra had contained the first tentative experiments in what mortals now call bureaucracy. The very first Lithmerian examples of proper, paper based records burned along with many of the first generation administrators who had pioneered, developed and collected them.
Fortunately, while the city was beginning to become heavily populated, the density was nothing like the teeming mass it is today. Furthermore, the Grandmagus along with the Archmages and the bulk of the military was in the north, fighting battles of expansion against neighboring tribes. As such, the true might of the fledgling empire was preserved, averting total disaster.
Initially, it was hoped that the dragon, having eaten his full and left destruction in his wake would simply leave and return from whence he came of his own volition. When, after several weeks this didn't happen, several plans were hatched and abandoned to dislodge Adarrdanothos by strength or subterfuge. It was the universal consensus of those few survivors who had tried to hurt the attacking dragon that anything short of a full frontal assault by the entire mystical might at the Grandmagus' disposal, including his own would be insufficient.
Unwilling to commit so much of his power to a highly uncertain and potentially disastrous course of action, the Grandmagus instead threw the magical resources at his disposal into a far grander project. Gathering the survivors and moving them a significant distance east of Caledra, he ordered the construction of a true city, 'New Caledra.'
All the mages and laborers who could be spared from the war effort to the north were thrown into the project. The lessons learned during the construction of Caledra were retained and expanded upon in this new metropolis. A great building, the 'Ebon Tower' was constructed at the heart of the city, a seat of power for the highest tiers of government and the army. Potent defensive enhancements were woven into the very buildings to ward against future attacks and a mighty garrison was tasked solely with the protection of the city.
New Caledra was then and is to this day a near impenetrable bastion of the Grandmagus' power upon Lithmeria. Its neatly organized streets, vigilant watchmen and deep shadows are a microcosm of the ideal world, seen through the eyes of the Grandmagus. If the Sovereignty is victorious in the Endless Siege, to gaze upon New Caledra will be to gaze upon the future.
See Also: Timeline